Smash burger
Thin, crispy-edged smashed beef patties with American cheese and pickles
Diners and drive-ins across the American Midwest have smashed burgers on hot griddles for a century, and the style is now everywhere from food trucks to backyard cookouts. A ball of beef is pressed hard onto a very hot pan so it spreads thin and develops a deep brown, lacy crust, then gets a slice of cheese and goes into a soft toasted bun with pickles and a tangy sauce. Two thin patties per burger is the classic. Chef's tip: smash within the first 30 seconds only; pressing later squeezes out the juice.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 4 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp chopped gherkins
For the burgers
- 1 ⅓ lb beef mince (20% fat)chilled
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 4 soft burger bunssplit
- ⅔ oz buttersoft
- ½ onionvery thinly sliced
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Fresh ingredients (6)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Stir 4 tbsp mayonnaise, 1 tbsp ketchup, 1 tsp yellow mustard and 1 tbsp chopped gherkins together. Divide 1 ⅓ lb beef mince (20% fat) into 8 loose balls of 75 g; do not pack them tightly. Keep them in the fridge until the pan is hot. Wash your hands after handling raw mince.
5 minStep 2: Spread cut sides of 4 soft burger buns with ⅔ oz butter and toast in a large heavy frying pan or griddle over a medium heat for 1 minute until golden. Set aside.
3 minStep 3: Turn the heat to high and heat the dry pan for 3 minutes until smoking hot. Add 2–4 balls, spaced apart. Immediately press each one flat to about 5 mm with a sturdy spatula (put baking paper between the spatula and the meat so it does not stick). Season with 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper.
2 minStep 4: Cook for 2 minutes without moving until the edges are deep brown and lacy. Scrape under each patty, flip, top with a slice of 8 American cheese slices and cook for 1 minute more. The thin patties cook through quickly; minced beef must be fully cooked with no pink juices (160°F). A common mistake is using lean mince, which turns dry; 20% fat is right.
4 minStep 5: Stack two patties per bun base. Add ½ onion, 12 dill pickle slices, a spoonful of sauce, 4 lettuce leaves and the lid. Repeat with the rest and eat at once.
5 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 690 kcal
- Protein
- 40 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 46 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does smash burger take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Sandwich grecKebab baguette
In Paris, a "grec" is the late-night kebab sandwich named after the Greek-run shops that first sold it in the Latin Quarter. On rue de la Huchette and rue Saint-André-des-Arts near Saint-Michel, students queue after a night out for crusty bread or pitta stuffed with meat shaved from a turning spit, lettuce, tomato and onion, a garlicky white sauce, and, the Paris touch, a handful of fries pushed right inside. This home version marinates chicken thighs in spiced yoghurt, sears them hard and slices them thin, with oven fries. It contains milk, egg (in the mayonnaise) and wheat. Chef's tip: slice the meat thinly across the grain after resting; thick chunks don't feel like a grec.
French
ZapiekankaOpen baguette with mushrooms and cheese
Zapiekanka is Polish street food born in the 1970s and perfected at the hatch windows around Plac Nowy in Kraków's Kazimierz district, where students and night owls queue for one at midnight. Half a long baguette is topped with mushrooms fried with onion, covered in grated cheese and baked until crisp at the edges and bubbling, then finished with a zigzag of ketchup and chives. The classic version has no meat at all. Use a hard cheese made with vegetarian rennet (many supermarket mild Cheddars and Goudas are). Chef's tip: fry the mushrooms until completely dry before they go on the bread; wet mushrooms make the baguette soggy instead of crisp.
Polish
Barbeque sauce
A quick, tangy barbecue sauce of tomato ketchup, onion, butter, vegetarian Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and lemon, sweetened with sugar and warmed with black pepper and chilli flakes. Keep it warm and serve it with barbecued paneer, vegetable skewers, burgers and corn.